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Noise exposures are associated with a host of adverse health effects, yet these exposures remain inadequately characterized in many industrial operations, including paper mills. We assessed noise at four paper mills using three measures: 1) personal noise dosimetry, 2) area noise measurements, and 3) questionnaire items addressing several different aspects of perceived noise exposure.

Methods

We assessed exposures to noise characterized using the three measures and compared the relationships between them. We also estimated the validity of each of the three measures using a novel application of the Method of Triads, which does not appear to have been used previously in the occupational health literature.

Results

We collected 209 valid dosimetry measurements and collected perceived noise exposure survey items from 170 workers, along with 100 area measurements. We identified exposures in excess of 85 dBA at all mills. The dosimetry and area noise measurements assigned to individual subjects generally showed good agreement, but for some operations within mill, large differences between the two measures were observed, and a substantial fraction of paired measures differed by >5 dB. Perceived noise exposures varied greatly between the mills, particularly for an item related to difficulty speaking in noise. One perceived noise exposure item related to difficulty hearing due to noise showed strong and significant correlations with both dosimetry and area measurements. The Method of Triads analysis showed that dosimetry measures had the highest estimated validity coefficient (0.70), and that the best performing perceived exposure measure had validity that exceeded that of area measurements (0.48 vs. 0.40, respectively).

Conclusions

Workers in Swedish pulp mills have the potential for exposures to high levels of noise. Our results suggest that, while dosimetry remains the preferred approach to exposure assessment, perceived noise exposures can be used to evaluate potential exposures to noise in epidemiological studies.

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Division of Standards Development and Technology Transfer. Document Development Branch.

Published:

September 8, 1992

Description:

The use of the exchange rate concept for predicting noise induced hearing loss based on noise level and duration was reviewed and discussed. The selection of an appropriate exchange rate necessitates examining the growth of equal hearing hazard as a ...

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Standards Development and Technology Transfer..

Published:

September 1984

Series:

DHHS publication ; no. 84-115

Description:

"This document provides guidance for protecting workers involved in the manufacture of paint and allied coating products. The phrase "paint and allied coating products" (SIC 2851) refers to a variety of products having the broad functions of surface ...

Objectives : Although occupational noise is a well known risk factor for hearing loss, little epidemiological evidence has been reported on its association with hearing loss in the general population, in part, because of the difficulty in exposure as...

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Hazard Evaluations and Technical Assistance Branch.

Published:

November 1998

Series:

DHHS publication no. (NIOSH) 99-106

Description:

"The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's (NIOSH) Health Hazard Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA) program responds to approximately 400 requests per year from employers, employees, employee representatives, other Federal a...